II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1458

To provide for a reduction in the rate of adolescent pregnancy through

the evaluation of public and private prevention programs, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 29, 1999

Mr. REID introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide for a reduction in the rate of adolescent pregnancy through the evaluation of public and private prevention programs, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teenage Pregnancy

5 Reduction Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS FOR PRE7 VENTION OF ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and

9 Human Services shall (directly or through grants or con-
2

•S 1458 IS

1 tracts awarded to public or nonprofit private entities) ar2 range for the evaluation of a wide variety of existing pro3 grams designed in whole or part to prevent pregnancy in

4 adolescents, including programs that do not receive grants

5 from the Federal Government for the operation of the pro6 grams. The purpose of the evaluation shall be the deter7 mination of—

8 (1) the effectiveness of such programs in reduc9 ing adolescent pregnancy;

10 (2) the factors contributing to the effectiveness

11 of the programs; and

12 (3) the feasibility of replicating the programs in

13 other locations.

14 (b) PARTICIPATION OF FEDERAL AGENCIES AND

15 PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS.—In carrying out the evalua16 tion under subsection (a), the Secretary shall as

17 appropriate—

18 (1) provide for the participation of the Director

19 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

20 the Director of the Office of Population Affairs, the

21 Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, and

22 the Director of the National Institute of Child

23 Health and Human Development; and

24 (2) provide for the participation of organiza25 tions with demonstrated expertise in conducting
3

•S 1458 IS

1 evaluations of adolescent pregnancy prevention pro2 grams, including the National Campaign to Prevent

3 Teen Pregnancy, a nonpartisan organization.

4 (c) DESIGN OF EVALUATION.—Subject to subsection

5 (d), the Secretary shall select a design for the evaluation

6 under subsection (a) from among proposals that—

7 (1) provide for the evaluation of programs in

8 various geographic regions;

9 (2) with respect to the populations served by

10 the programs, provide for determining factors that

11 are specific to various socioeconomic, racial, ethnic,

12 and age groups, and factors that are specific to gen13 der; and

14 (3) meet such other criteria as the Secretary

15 may establish.

16 (d) MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS.—The Secretary

17 shall define the measures of effectiveness used in evalu18 ating the programs designed to reduce the rate of adoles19 cent pregnancy, and shall include a variety of measures

20 of effectiveness in the definition.

21 (e) SCIENTIFIC PEER REVIEW.—The Secretary may

22 provide funds for an evaluation pursuant to subsection (a)

23 only if the evaluation has been recommended for approval

24 pursuant to a process of scientific peer review utilizing one
4

•S 1458 IS

1 or more panels of experts. Such panels shall include ex2 perts from public entities and from private entities.

3 (f) SUBMISSION OF REPORT TO CONGRESS AND SEC4 RETARY.—Not later than December 1, 2004, the evalua5 tion under subsection (a) shall be completed and a report

6 shall be submitted to the Congress that describes the find7 ings made in the evaluation and provides recommenda8 tions for future programs designed to reduce the rate of

9 adolescent pregnancy.

10 (g) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—After the

11 submission of the report under subsection (f), the Sec12 retary shall disseminate the findings and recommenda13 tions presented in the report. The categories of individuals

14 to whom the information is disseminated shall include ad15 ministrators of prevention programs, public and private

16 entities providing financial support to such programs, or17 ganizations working on such programs, professional med18 ical associations, entities providing public health services,

19 entities providing social work services, and school adminis20 trators.

21 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur22 poses of carrying out this section, there is authorized to

23 be appropriated $3,500,000 for each of the fiscal years

24 2000 through 2002, and such sums as may be necessary

25 for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 2005.
5

•S 1458 IS

1 SEC. 3. ONE-TIME INCENTIVE GRANTS FOR EFFECTIVE

2 PREVENTION PROGRAMS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a prevention pro4 gram that pursuant to the evaluation under section 2 has

5 been found to be effective, the Secretary may under this

6 section make not more than one grant to the entity that

7 operates the program. The purpose of the grant shall be

8 to assist the entity with the expenses of operating the pro9 gram.

10 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur11 poses of carrying out subsection (a), there is authorized

12 to be appropriated $10,000,000, in the aggregate, for the

13 fiscal years 2004 through 2006. Such authorization is in

14 addition to any other authorization of appropriations that

15 is available for making grants for the operational expenses

16 of prevention programs.

17 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

18 (a) PREVENTION PROGRAMS.—

19 (1) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The provisions

20 of this Act apply with respect to a prevention pro21 gram without regard to which of the various pro22 grammatic approaches for the prevention of preg23 nancy in adolescents (as defined in paragraph (2))

24 is the focus of the program.

25 (2) PROGRAMMATIC APPROACHES.—In this Act,

26 the term ‘‘programmatic approaches’’, with respect
6

•S 1458 IS

1 to prevention programs, includes advocating absti2 nence from sexual activity; providing family planning

3 services (including contraception); fostering aca4 demic achievement; mentoring by adults; providing

5 employment assistance or job training; providing

6 professional counseling or peer counseling; providing

7 for recreational or social events; and any combina8 tion thereof.

9 (b) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this Act:

10 (1) PREVENTION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pre11 vention program’’ means a program for the preven12 tion of pregnancy in adolescents.

13 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

14 the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Æ